2009 has been an important year for e-book readers - substantially as a result of the efforts of Amazon. Amazon released the Kindle 2 in February 2009, which was an updated and enhanced version of the original Kindle which launched in November 2007.
A few short months later, Amazon launched the large format Kindle DX reader. This was targeted at readers of newspapers, magazines and academic textbooks - and it caused a bit of a stir.
The academic establishment immediately saw the potential - from textbooks with interactive modes, to constantly updated text - and the potential to save money was certainly there as well. Amazon, in addition to entering into partnership agreements with a number of colleges and universities, got a high level of free publicity from the political scene. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his role as Governor of California, and the New Democratic Leadership Council - which numbers Hillary Clinton among its members - both waxed lyrical about the opportunities afforded by digital textbooks in general and the Kindle in particular.
As a result of Amazon's innovation and foresight - and greatly helped by free publicity - the Kindle has now become Amazon's number one selling product. At the moment, the Kindle has an amazing 60% share of the American e-book reader market, and an international version has recently been launched. The Kindle is now synonymous with e-book readers.
However, Amazon were actually a late entrant to the e-book reader arena. The first e-book reader, the Franklin Ebookman, was launched ten years ago in'99. Sony's PRS reader also beat the original Kindle to market.
Although Amazon were not first to launch, by combining innovation, marketing and addressing perceived customer needs, thay have carved out a market leadership position for themselves. The wireless connectivity and the huge, 360,000 strong, collection of Kindle books available on the Amazon website were every bit as important as the technical features of the Kindle.
Now that Amazon has - practically single handed - developed the market, it looks like every man and his dog want a piece of the action. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Barnes and Noble, iRex, Plastic Logic, Asus - the list continues - all have their own readers due for release or in the late stages of the development cycle.
Wireless connectivity, currently one of Amazon's strong selling points, will become standard and Barnes and Noble will offer users of their new Nook reader over 1,000,000 titles to choose from. Sony's new Daily Edition reader will allow users to download e-books on loan from participating lending libraries. There will most likely be some standard e-book format adopted in 2010, and this will allow let users lend e-books to family and friends or port them over to other readers should they so wish.
Right now, a lot of industry watchers are eyeing the line up of new readers and trying to guess which one is the Kindle Killer. All the same, Amazon has shown plenty of business acumen to date, so don't expect them to give up their top slot without a fight. It took them less than a year and a half after the launch of the original Kindle to release the much improved Kindle 2. The DX reader was released no more than a few months later. Amazon almost certainly has big plans for the further development of their e-book readers. Is it possible that the real Kindle killer will actually be the Kindle 4 and that could we see this in 2010?
Check out the Amazon Kindle ebook reader #1, and view the full range of Amazon Kindle accessories available.
Orignal From: Can Anybody See A Kindle Killer?
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